E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Jonathan’s Arrows.
They were shot to give warning, and not to hurt. (1 Sam. xx. 36.)
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“If the husband would reprove his wife, it should be in such a mood as if he did chide himself; and his words, like Jonathan’s arrows, should be shot, not to hurt, but only to give warning.”—Le Fanu: The House in the Churchyard, chap. xcix.
